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Feb 05 2018

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Musings on a year in the life of The Memory Pool
Introducing The Memory Pool: Australian stories of summer, sun and swimming
From Kiama to Coogee and north to Bilgola: a photo essay on six ocean pools
Coogee swim sparks memories of mostly triumphant trophy days
From Herbert Badham to Matthew Martin: the fine art of drawing & painting pools
Handstands and kookaburras welcome a new season at Petersham Pool
Red and yellow and purple and blue: celebrating the cap swimmers at ocean pools

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swimmingpoolstories

On the tiles, Vic Park Pool. . . . #victoriapark

On the tiles, Vic Park Pool.

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#victoriaparkpool #vicparkpool #cityofsydney #cityofsydneypool #pooltiles #pooldesign #circa1950s #1950s #1950spool #tiles #tilesstyle #swimmingpool #placesweswim #sydneypools #thememorypool

Getting deep at Vic Park Pool opened in 1954. .

Getting deep at Vic Park Pool opened in 1954.

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#vicparkpool #victoriaparkpool #cityofsydneypools #swimmingpool #circa1958 #swimmingpool #1950s #1950sdesign #1950spool #pooldesign #poolarchitecture #sydneyuni #vicpark #placesweswim #placesweswimsydney

Rise up by @ginafishmanart spotted yesterday at th

Rise up by @ginafishmanart spotted yesterday at the lovely @paperpear gallery in Wagga Wagga. Coincidentally an appropriate title for Easter Sunday.

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#water #swimming #ginafishman #ginafishmanart #swimming #underwater #paperpear #paperpeargallery #waggawagga #wiradjuri #wiradjuricountry #easter2021 #australianartist #australianartists #australiaart #melbourneartists

The high line, Wagga Wagga Pool. . . . #oasisaqu

The high line, Wagga Wagga Pool.

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#oasisaquaticcentre #waggapool #waggawagga #wagga #wiradjuricountry #wiradjuri #eastersaturday #swimmingpool #lapswimming #riverina #easter2021 #divingtower #leapingoff

Ripples and swirls . . . #ripples #swirls #water

Ripples and swirls

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#ripples #swirls #water #pool #swimmingpool #backyardpool #gumlygumly #waggawagga #wiradjuri #wiradjuricountry #easter2021

Back to 1965 at the Gundagai War Memorial Olympic

Back to 1965 at the Gundagai War Memorial Olympic Pool officially opened by infamous NSW Premier Robert Askin.

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#ontheroadtogundagai #gundagaipool #gundagai #warmemorialpool #swimmingpool #circa1965

The hills are alive at Gundagai War Memorial Olymp

The hills are alive at Gundagai War Memorial Olympic Pool.

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#easter #easterlongweekend #gundagai #gundagaipool #closedforwinter #closedpool #riverina #riverinansw #wiradjuri #wiradjuricountry #swimmingpool

A handstand to mark the last day of the season at

A handstand to mark the last day of the season at Petersham Pool. See you in October old friend! Thanks to fellow regular Michelle for taking the photo!

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#hanstands #handstandsinthepool #swimmingpool #petershampool #fannydurackaquaticcentre #endofseason #poolinthepark #petershampark #innerwestsydney

Swimming pools in Australian art... Pool portrait

Swimming pools in Australian art...

Pool portraits 26:

The Clark Pool, acrylic on canvas, 1981, Rick Matear.

While I could have featured paintings @rickmatear has done of Melbourne’s Kew and Hawthorn Pools, I was attracted to the stillness of this work of an above-ground pool.

Turns out it has a great story: ‘When I was at art school I was lucky enough to have a friend of my parents, artist Jeffrey Smart, come to see my paintings,’ says Rick.

‘Looking at this work, Jeffrey suggested moving the ladder to enter the pool from the right to the left. He said it was like reading a page and where you enter a painting.’

Rick says the suggestion has helped him as an art teacher and in his career as an artist; always asking himself and his students where the eye enters the image and then where does it go in the work?

When I think of above-ground pools I remember the slippery feel of the plastic surface on the bottom and that when I was a kid I had the view that they weren’t really proper pools.

In The Memory Pool, Paralympian Priya Cooper remembers her family’s above-ground pool in their backyard in the hills above Perth as the first pool she swam in.

‘...it had that blue liner and a ladder that came all the way down the outside and into the pool. My brother and I spent a lot of time in that pool, and all day when our cousins came to visit.’ Sounds quite like Rick Matear’s The Clark Pool.

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#rickmatear #rickmatearartist #rickmatearart #poolart #poolpaintings #abovegroundpool #clarkpool #thememorypool #theresespruhan #priyacooper #australianart #australianartists #swimmingpool #jeffreysmart

Pink sky at night, a squad swimmer’s delight!

Pink sky at night, a squad swimmer’s delight!

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#pinksky #pinksunset #sydneysunset #poolsunset #squadtime #swimtime #leichhardtpool #leichhardtparkaquaticcentre #placesweswimsydney #placesweswim

Water by water at Cabarita Pool. . . . #cabaritap

Water by water at Cabarita Pool.

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#cabaritapool #cabaritaswimmingpool #cabaritaswimmingcentre #concord #saltwaterpool #beautifulspot #cabarita #swimmingpool #canadabay #placesweswimsydney

What a difference a day makes at Petersham Pool!

What a difference a day makes at Petersham Pool!

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#sunshineonmyshoulders #petersham #morningswim #fannydurackaquaticcentre #swimmingpool

Perfect in the water at Petersham Pool. . . . . #

Perfect in the water at Petersham Pool.

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#petershampool #fannydurackaquaticcentre #petersham #poolinthepark #swimmingintherain #lapswimming #swimmingpool #placesweswim #innerwestsydney

Beach art. . . . #shells #seashells #beachart #we

Beach art.

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#shells #seashells #beachart #werribeach #gerringong #morningswim

Swimming pools in Australian art... Pool portrait

Swimming pools in Australian art...

Pool portraits 25:

Poolside, digital art painting on iPad using Procreate, 2016, Rebecca Jones.

This work by @rebeccajonesart features iconic Fitzroy Pool, a landmark in Melbourne since 1908 and a setting for Helen Garner’s 1977 novel, Monkey Grip.

It captures the significance of the spaces and structures around a pool where bodies congregate. As Rebecca says: ‘Summers at Fitzroy Pool are not just about swimming. They are also very much the iconic steps, lolling upon them and sunbaking or strolling past in full parade.’

Nora In Monkey Grip: ‘Martin and Javo lolled on the burning concrete. I clowned in the water at the deep end where the sign read ACQUA PROFONDA.’

When I interviewed Ellen Connor, who was part of the 1994 ‘Save Fitzroy Pool’ campaign as a teenager, for The Memory Pool, the concrete steps were a favourite spot to get some sun. She also loved the ‘tall, twisty slide’ and the shady area near the kids’ pool where she and her friends lay down their towels.

When I swam at Fitzroy Pool a number of years ago it was the middle of winter so there were no bodies stretched out on the concrete. I got straight into the heated water to escape the biting wind and swam towards the Aqua Profonda sign tattooed on the pool floor where Nora in Monkey Grip was hanging out. Famously misspelt, 1950s manager James Murphy painted the words on a wall to remind newly arrived Italian migrants they were venturing into deep water.

Those two words synonymous with Fitzroy Pool have been the inspiration for songs by Courtney Barnett and Mick Thomas and other paintings by Rebecca Jones which you can see on her website and @rebeccajonesart

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#fitzroypool #fitzroybaths #fitzroy #aquaprofonda #poolpaintings #poolart #monkeygrip #helengarner #rebeccajonesart #thememorypool #theresespruhan #courtneybarnett #mickthomas #australianart #australianartists #australianartistsoninstagram #swimmingpools

Swimming pools in Australian art... Pool portrait

Swimming pools in Australian art...

Pool portraits 23 & 24:

1. At the blocks
2. The Valley Pool facade both by @traceylennonart

These two digital prints of Tracey Lennon’s handmade collage art are part of her series on Brisbane’s iconic mid-century architecture with a focus on the city’s pools and swimming culture.

Featured in the works are the historic Valley Baths in inner-city Fortitude Valley. Designed by Brisbane City Architect Alfred Herbert Foster, the pool opened in 1925. These days only the facade featured in Tracey’s second work remains of the original complex after a 1985 redevelopment.

For me, these colourful works capture moments in time at the pool that I totally relate to: stretching on the blocks before launching into laps; walking into the pool, cossie and thongs on, towel wrapped around your waist, beach bag over your shoulder, ready to swim.

When I visited the Valley Baths more than 10 years ago, I sat in the grandstand and watched swimmers lap up and down while others relaxed on sun lounges as The Eagles’ song Take It To The Limit wafted over the pool from the pub behind.

In my book, The Memory Pool, Diane Fingleton remembers going to the Valley Pool for Wednesday night carnivals with her brothers in the 1950s. Her father, who coached the ‘Flying Fingletons’ had a ‘keenness for the drink’ as my father would say and one time when he was drunk he fell into the pool.

Recently the pool acquired a liquor licence and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beer, wine and cocktails are served in the Valley Pool Bar. Might have been dangerous for Di Fingleton’s Dad!

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#poolart #poolpaintings #collageart #swimmingpools #traceylennon #valleybaths #valleypool #brisbane #brisbanepools #fortitudevalley #australianart #australianartists #thememorypool #theresespruhan

Summer giveaway update! ‘The books were an abs

Summer giveaway update!

‘The books were an absolute treat paired together’ says Katherine Clark, the lucky winner of The Memory Pool and Places We Swim Sydney.

Pictured at Woolwich Baths, Kat says she loved how each individual story in The Memory Pool drew her into their personal connection with swimming.

‘The stories made me feel nostalgic for my own childhood swimming experiences and the rediscovery of my love of water as an adult!’

On Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon’s Places We Swim Sydney, Kat says it beautifully presents some of her favourite Sydney swimming spots and helped her discover more.

‘Despite the rainier than usual summer, I managed to find a new favourite beach spot from the book - Collins Flat Beach - really making me appreciate the stunning city we live in.’

Glad you enjoyed my book and Places We Swim Sydney Kat. Thanks to @placesweswim for the giveaway copy and my publisher @newsouthpublishing @newsouthbooksau

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#thememorypool #theresespruhan #placesweswim #placesweswimsydney #bookgiveaway #summergiveaway #hardiegrant #hardiegrantbooks #newsouthbooks #australianstories #australianbooks #swimmingstories #swimmingpoolstories #poolstories #woolwichbaths @kkaattherine

Swimming pools in Australian art... Pool portrait

Swimming pools in Australian art...

Pool portraits 22:

Spring-Heeled Jackie, oil and graphite on polyester, 2020, Maz Dixon. @maz_dixon

This painting is part of a body of work the artist created in 2020 inspired by the sense of being knocked off balance by the pandemic and listening to folklore podcasts.

It continues her interest in vintage postcards and adding something out of kilter to her paintings, challenging the mass-produced souvenir view and experience of ‘our colonised Australian landscape’.

The title of this work springs from one of the folklore podcasts the artist was listening to about the Victorian England character Spring-Heeled Jack, who could make extraordinary leaps.

The vibrant colours, retro feel and playful, fantastical elements drew me to this work and others in Maz’s Getaway’ series. I also enjoy guessing the pool in each of her paintings and was correct in naming this one the Centenary Pool in Brisbane.

Like Maz’s painting, the design of the Centenary Pool has many influences including the French-German sculptor Jean ARP and the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Built in 1959 to celebrate the centenary of the official separation of Queensland from NSW, its designer James Birrell wanted to create a work of art rather than a purely functionalist structure. Its signature feature is The Jetson’s like structure originally a restaurant and now a gym featured in ‘ Free-Wheeling Jackie’.

When I swam at the pool a few years ago, I loved the underwater portholes included to allow coaches to view their swimmers from below the surface and the free form layout of the pools to create ‘a festive air’!
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#poolart #poolpaintings #artexpressions #swimmingpools #centenarypool #centenarypoolbrisbane #jamesbirrell #mazdixon #pennycontemporary #australianartist #australianartists #australianart

Swimming sisters: On International Women’s Day c

Swimming sisters: On International Women’s Day celebrating two wonderful women in my life, my mother Barby (right) and my Aunty Mary and all my aunts, Ellen, Marie and Molly.

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#iwd2021 #internationalwomensday #swimmingwomen

Swimming pools in Australian art... Pool portrait

Swimming pools in Australian art...

Pool portraits 21:

Coming up for Breath, video, silk chiffon, cotton voile, 2020, Lizzie Buckmaster Dove.

This installation is the artist’s response to the year that was 2020. Its setting is her local sea pool where she videoed herself swimming laps. She describes the pool as ‘hinged between the land and the sea; man made but part of the landscape’.

In the pool she contemplates labour, breath and being - a separate space from the unrelenting narrative of the news cycle, feeding us minute by minute updates of Covid, bushfires, flood, political one-upmanship; catastrophe.

Over and over she returns, mirroring the tide that sometimes consumes the pool, to enter a liminal world where she swims ‘back to breath and self; swimming self into place’.

Last Friday I entered Lizzie’s liminal world at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery in Nowra.

I sat there immersed in the movement of her arms and the bubbles from her breath and kick and felt like I was underwater with her in the aquamarine blue of the Coledale Pool. It was calming and soothing and like a real life swim a break away from the difficult issues in the world.

Coming up for Breath finished yesterday but you can see more of Lizzie’s diverse range of work @lizziebuckmasterdove and on her website of the same name. You can also read about her childhood memories of Bermagui’s Blue Pool in my book, The Memory Pool.

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#poolart #lizziebuckmasterdove #coledalepool #bluepoolbermagui #theresespruhan #thememorypool #seapools #oceanpools #shoalhavenregionalgallery #australianart #australianartists

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